A Hamilton Township
accountant most likely contracted a case of skin anthrax from mail delivered to
her office last month, state officials said yesterday as they revealed they
found traces of the potentially deadly bacteria on a company mail bin she used.

In light of the
latest development, health officials now fully accept the prospect of
"cross-contamination" -- the notion that anthrax-laced letters could have
polluted parts of the postal system and turned other pieces of mail into health
threats.

"That would be the
best bet at this point," said state epidemiologist Eddy Bresnitz. He said there
was no evidence that the infected accountant was exposed to a letter filled with
anthrax.

Three anthrax-laced
letters are known to have passed through the Trenton regional mail processing
center in Hamilton Township on their way to New York and Washington.

However, Bresnitz and
other officials downplayed any ongoing risk from the mail.

"As time goes by,
there's less and less risk," said Bresnitz. "If you believe cross-contamination
is a real possibility, and there's been any letters contaminated, we still
haven't seen many cases even in the peak period of cross-contamination."

Federal health
officials, however, said it is impossible to declare the mail system safe until
the person responsible for placing anthrax into the mail has been identified and
apprehended, eliminating the chance that another letter will be mailed.

FBI agents,
meanwhile, raided a Trenton apartment yesterday morning and detained a man on
immigration charges. Agents removed undisclosed articles from the man's home on
Olden Avenue. Authorities would not identify the man, and it was not clear if
the raid was directly related to the anthrax investigation.

"The search was
conducted based on information that was developed in the course of the anthrax
investigation," said FBI spokeswoman Sandra Carroll, saying the action was taken
as the result of a tip. "You are going to see more of these types of situations,
people being detained," she said.

Since the three known
anthrax letters passed through the Trenton sorting center -- two on Sept. 18 and
one on Oct. 9 -- six people who live or work in that part of the state have been
diagnosed with anthrax.

Preliminary tests on
a seventh suspected case -- a
Delaware man who works
at the mail processing center in Bellmawr in Camden County and had developed a
suspicious infection -- indicate he does not have anthrax, authorities said
yesterday. Tests of the Bellmawr facility also showed no evidence of anthrax
contamination, and postal officials re-opened that plant late yesterday.

Bresnitz said
laboratory analysis is ongoing on skin samples from seven other state residents
with symptoms that could indicate anthrax exposure.

The Hamilton
accountant,
Linda
Burch, developed skin anthrax on her forehead Oct. 17. She has been treated
with antibiotics and is expected to make a full recovery. Her illness troubled
health officials because it was the first in New Jersey involving someone who
did not work for the postal system.

Bresnitz said
evidence of anthrax was discovered in a metal mail bin where postal workers
deposit the office mail for Civale, Silvestri, Alfieri, Martin & Higgins, the
Hamilton accounting firm where Burch works. It was one of seven spots within the
office tested for anthrax after Burch was diagnosed with the disease Monday.

Acting state Health
Commissioner Dr. George DiFerdinando Jr. said the bin showed evidence of a
significant anthrax contamination. He contrasted that with the minuscule amount
of anthrax found last week on a mail bin at the main Princeton post office in
West Windsor. That post office has been closed since Oct. 26, after further
testing uncovered traces of anthrax on a shelf where the contaminated bin had
been stored.

The Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention, meanwhile, expects to complete environmental
testing this weekend on most of the 44 other regional post offices that send
mail to or take mail from the Hamilton processing facility.

Since officials
learned three weeks ago that the Trenton center had handled three anthrax-laced
letters, they have slowly expanded the range of areas they believe could have
been contaminated.

After first
minimizing the danger of any exposure even to workers who directly processed the
letters in Hamilton, officials two weeks ago acknowledged the letter had
contaminated equipment and workers there.

After discovering
anthrax infected a mail carrier in West Trenton and contaminated the West
Windsor office, officials decided to sample every post office in the Trenton
region.

State officials are
now seeking federal aid to test every post office in the state.

Acting Gov. Donald T.
DiFrancesco is scheduled to meet with Tom Ridge, the U.S. director of the Office
of Homeland Security, at the White House Monday to press his demand for
increased federal aid and services in the face of the anthrax crisis.

The most concentrated
evidence of anthrax has been inside the Hamilton plant, which has been closed
since Oct. 18. Tests for anthrax returned positive in 34 of 102 locations
sampled within the sprawling facility.

Yesterday
DiFerdinando re-emphasized the need for every worker in that Hamilton facility
to report to a doctor for anthrax treatment and to take antibiotics for at least
60 days. He said hospitals report seeing about 60 postal workers a day who are
reporting for their first check-up since DiFerdinando ordered them to begin
taking antibiotics two weeks ago.

Officials say they
fear the anthrax contained in the letters puffed up into the air as the letters
shot through automated sorting equipment in Hamilton, and that the airborne
spores of anthrax could have lodged in the lungs of any workers in the facility
around the time they passed through.

In the 1970s, when
anthrax anthrax was released into the air in
Russia, DiFerdinando noted,
some people exposed to the bacteria did not show their first symptoms until 47
days after they had breathed in the anthrax. Taking antibiotics kills the
anthrax spores, preventing those who have inhaled it from developing the
often-fatal disease.

Officials did not
recommend antibiotics or any other precautionary measures for Burch's co-workers
at the accounting firm, saying the contamination appears limited.

James Alfieri, one of
the partners in the accounting firm, said Burch is doing well and will likely be
back at work within two weeks. He said a receptionist who handles most of the
office's mail has not shown any signs of anthrax.

Five doors away from
the accounting firm, in the offices of U.S. Rep. Chris Smith (R-4th Dist.),
tests found no evidence of anthrax contamination.

Smith and DiFrancesco
pressed efforts yesterday to give residents a grace period from bill collectors
if their mail service has been disrupted by closings of post offices.

"We do not want
residents to be penalized by late fees for mail delivery situations beyond their
control," said DiFrancesco. "'Many credit issuers made special accommodations to
help those affected by the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, and the state is asking
the credit companies to expand that forbearance to the citizens of New Jersey
who are unable to receive or send mail in a timely manner due to the closure of
mail facilities in central New Jersey."

Smith has proposed
legislation that would prohibit federally regulated banks, phone companies and
other businesses from penalizing customers whose payments were delayed by
anthrax.